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(No Model.)

J. J. SWEENEY. MANUFACTURE OF STOVE BOARDS.

No. 461,137. Patented Oct. 13,1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. S\VEENEY, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF STOVE-BOARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 46l,137, dated October13, 1891.

Serial No. 385,058- (NO model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. SWEENEY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of New York city, New York, have invented certainImprovements in the Manufacture of Stove-Boards, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of stoveboards made from sheetmetal with a thick backing or lining of wood or other similar relativelysoft material; and the object of my method is to produce aboard havingapeculiarly-formed metallic bindingabout the edge.

In the accompanying d rawingsl have shown a stove-board constructedaccording to my method, and in these drawings Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe board; and Fig. 2 is a trans verse section of the same, taken in theplane indicated by line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 3, and 3" are sectionalviews, on a larger scale, illustrating the several steps in the process.

I will say, preliminarily, that it is a common practice to makesheet-metal stove-boards or platforms with wooden linings or backings,the metal being extended over the edge of the wood, so as to inelose orhouse said edge, and this I do not, broadly, claim.

I will now describe my method of making the board, and then carefullydefine the novel features of the invention in the claim.

I first take a sheet of metal a cut to the shape the board is destinedto have. Herein the board is represented as an oblong rectangle withrounded corners. The metal I prefer to employ is embossed tin-plate, butother sheet metals may be employed. I next turn back a flange Z) allaround the margin of the metal sheet and form a bead c on the face ofthe sheet at the point where said flange joins the body of the sheet.The

- metal will now have the appearance seen in Fig. 3, which is asectional view of the margin of the sheet as it appears after the flangeand bead have been formed thereon. 1 next take the lining or backing d,which will have the proper form and dimensions to fit within and beembraced by the flange b, and apply it to the back of the metal sheet.This backing will usually be made of two layers of thin wood with thegrain crossed. After the backing is in place aportion b of the broadflange b is turned inward and down upon the lower or outer face of thebacking (Z to form a retaining-flange, as seen in Fig. 3, which is asection of a part of the board as it appears after this step in theprocess.

The final step in the process is to form in the face of the boardparallel with the bead c and at the inner side of said bead a deepcrease e, which presses the metal of the plat-e a down into the softermaterial of the backing (1, thus drawing the metal tightly over the edgeof the backing, so as to bind the latter snugly and cause the materialof the backing to fill or measurably fill the hollow within the bead c.The metal is also drawn down at the inner side of the crease e in such amanner as to impart to the metal a slight convexity at 00, whichmaterially enhances the appearance of the board and avoids the tendencyto concavity of the surface of the board incident to the use of sheetmetal for such purposes.

Fig. 3 is a section of a part of the board, showing its appearance afterthe final step in the process.

In order to enable the metal to be drawn tightly over the edge of thebacking during the creasing operation, the retaining-flange b is heldfirmly to the backing during said creasing operation, the pressureemployed for the purpose serving also to press the flange into thesofter material of the backing, so as not to project below or out beyondthe general surface of the backing. The board is now completed and readyfor the market.

In carrying out my invention I usually employ a die for turning theflanges on the metal sheet and a die for making the crease e. In Fig. 3the dotted lines roughly indicate the die for forming the crease and thelower die which holds the retaining-flange b and presses it into thebacking.

The backing cl need not necessarily be of wood. It may be of some otherrelatively soft material-as straw lumber, for example. The backing willhave, primarily, a plane upper face, upon which the metal rests.

I am aware that it is not new to emboss sheet metal and then fit abacking to said embossed sheet either by cutting the backing to fit thehollows of the embossing or by forcing a plastic material into saidhollows. This I do not claim. I am also aware that itis not new to placea thin metal tube over a cylindrical bar of wood to form acurtain-poleand.

then to ornament said tube by spiral creasings; and this I do not claim.My method has in view another object more important than ornamentation.By forcing the metal down into the backing, as described, I draw themetal tightly over the backing, so that it binds the edge thereoftightly and strains the metal over the surface of the backing, as setforth. In the ordinary method of applying the metal to the backing themetal is not tense, but, on the contrary, is ordinarily loose andslightly wavy, especially when the board is large.

I do, not herein claim the board made according to this method, as thatforms the subject-matter of another application filed by me March14,1891, and bearing Serial No. 385,057.

Having thus described my invention, I claim The herein-described methodof applying the sheet-metal covering of a stove-board to the,piain-surfaced relatively soft backing of the same, which consists infirst forming a flange on the metal sheet and a raised head on its facealong the line where the flange joins the face portion of the same, thenapplying the backing Within said flange, then turning the margin of theflange down upon the rear face of the backing, and then while saidflange is held fast forcing the metal sheet down into the wooden backingin the form of a crease at the inner edge of the head on the sheet andextending anound the board parallel with the edge thereof, whereby themetal is drawn tightly over the edge of the backing and over the surfaceof the board, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in thepresence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN J. SWEENEY.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, CHAS. A WALSH.

